The US Navy has
conducted tests to check the performance of the newest upgrade to
the Aegis weapon system aboard the latest Arleigh Burke class destroyers.
Specifically the tests were to see if the Baseline 6 Phase 1 version
of the system produced by Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics &
Surveillance Systems- Moorestown were acceptable.

The two ships
taking part in the TRIAL BRAVO exercises, in which a target drone
was tracked and engaged, were the Oscar Austin (DDG 79), built by
Bath Iron Works (BIW) of Bath, Maine, and Roosevelt (DDG 80), built
by Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, in Mississippi. TRIAL
BRAVO is part of a new ship's construction evaluation conducted in
part by the shipbuilder and the US Navy to ensure that the ship and
its systems are operating as expected.

This recent test
of the Aegis weapon system is important because Baseline 6 Phase 1
includes significant COTS technology and equipment, which is integrated
with traditional equipment manufactured to military specifications.
The commercial equipment introduced into Baseline 6 Phase 1 includes
computers, servers, routers, display systems and other peripheral
equipment.

"This initial
test of the Baseline 6 Phase 1 Aegis weapon system is an important
step in verifying the integration and performance of COTS equipment,''
said Fred P. Moosally, vice president and general manager of Lockheed
Martin NE&SS-Moorestown.

The successful
tests onboard Oscar Austin and Roosevelt are the first of a series
of evaluations that will demonstrate performance of a COTS-based Aegis
weapon system. Verifying the performance of ships equipped with Baseline
6 Phase 1 Aegis systems is a stepping stone to the next-generation
system -- Baseline 6 Phase 3, which incorporates cooperative engagement
capability (CEC) and area tactical ballistic missile defence (TBMD)
capability into new- construction destroyers.

CEC allows ships
and aircraft to share sensor and targeting information, enabling one
ship to fire a missile against a target being tracked by another ship.
This networking of sensors provides improved tracking capability against
all types of air and missile targets. Baseline 6 Phase I CEC functionality
is planned to be demonstrated in the May 2000 timeframe.